Hold off on China for now

Article Excerpt

ISHARES CHINA LARGE-CAP ETF, $39.63, is a hold for safety-conscious investors. The ETF (New York symbol FXI; buy or sell through brokers) tracks the 50 largest, most-liquid Chinese stocks. Investors are charged a high 0.74% MER. The units yield 3.1%. Top holdings for the $4.1 billion fund are Tencent (Internet), 9.9%; China Construction Bank, 8.5%; Ping An Insurance, 7.5%; Industrial & Commercial Bank, 6.9%; Meituan Dianping (group buying/food delivery), 5.2%; China Mobile, 5.2%; Bank of China, 3.9%; CNOOC (oil), 3.3%; and China Merchants Bank, 3.3%. China now appears to have COVID-19 increasingly under control, and is slowly reopening its economy. However, activity will likely remain at much lower levels than usual for some time. This will hold back the overall economy and stock prices, at least in the near term. You’re better off waiting for that to clear up before new buying. buying. …